Complete
Linguistic features:
Formulae:
ܕܟܝܪ Remembered be so-and-so
Quotations from literary texts:
Dating:
AD 401
-
AD 600
Language:
Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
Monumental:
Medium:
mosaic
Visible:
Accessible:
Has figural depiction:
Has iconoclastic damage:
Activities commemorated:
donation to the synagogue
Funds:
own property
Price:
gold or silver or anything else
Placement:
nave
People mentioned:
Name:
Beniamin
Patronym:
Yose
Status:
religious_authority
Ethnic allegance:
Semitic
Tribal allegane:
none
Family status:
unspecified
Role:
Benefactor
Occupation:
parnas
Age:
Gender:
male
Religion:
Judaism
Religious denomination:
unspecified
Language:
Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
Description
date: 5-6 c. CE description: Aramaic inscription of Beniamin the parnas and general dedication to the synagogue. Mosaic floor located on the southern panel in the nave of the main hall (E). Square Jewish script squeezed in between the left-hand lion and Daniel’s arm. Source of image: CIIP IV fig. 2734 ed. CIIP IV 2734 דכיר לטב בינימין פרנסה בר יוסה כירין לטב כל מן[ד] דמתחזק ויהב או [ד]יהב בהדן אתרה ]ק[דישה בן דהב בן ]כ[סף בן כל מקמה ]ד[היא] א[מן חו>ל dkyr lṭb bynymyn prnsh br ywsh [d]kyryn lṭb kl mn dmtḥzq wyhb ʾw [d]yhb bhdn ʾtrh [q]dyšh bn dhb bn [k]sp bn kl mqmh [d]hyʾ [ʾ]mn ḥwqhwn 'Remembered for the good be Beniamin the parnas, son of Yose. Remembered for the good be everyone who supports and donates or will donate [or: has donated] in this holy place, whether gold or silver or anything else (of value), Amen. Their share is in this holy place, Amen.' commentary: (after CIIP IV 2734) Some letters were erased when the figure of Daniel was destroyed by iconoclasts. The title parnas indicates an administrator, mid- or even high-level within a community, whose ad hoc functions varied from place to place; it had no fixed meaning or function. The terms ὁ προνοητής and ὁ προνούμενος in the synagogue pavement in Ḥammat Tiberias are probable parallels to parnas. Anonymity is a relatively rare phenomenon in euergetistic inscriptions but many of them were found in the Jewish context in Iudaea/Palaestina (in addition to the present inscription in Naʿaran): Ḥamat Gader, Beth She’an, Jericho, Khirbet Susiya, Ḥuseifa, Beth Alfa, Maon, Beth Sheʾan. These are all Aramaic, except for the last mentioned one which is Greek . Anonymous benefaction seems to indicate a special euergetistic ethic or piety, rather than “community ownership of the synagogue”. CIIP IV 2734 Beyer 1984: 392 (ggNO 5-6) Naveh 1978: 97-100 (63) https://library.brown.edu/iip/viewinscr/narr0007/ https://library.brown.edu/iip/viewinscr/narr0008/
Author:
Tomasz Barański
Added by:
Martyna
Created:
2022-11-02 12:46:33
Last update:
2024-03-28 18:28:56
Building:
Synagogue
Dimensions: surface: cm
Condition: Aramaic inscription of Beniamin the parnas and general dedication to the synagogue. Mosaic floor located on the southern panel in the nave of the main hall (E).
Text: Square Jewish script squeezed in between the left-hand lion and Daniel’s arm. The first one in 3 lines; the second one consists of 8 lines.
Date: 401 CE - 600 CE
5-6 c. CE
Findspot: Unknown
Original location: Palestine Naaran (Na'aran; Noara; 'Ein Duk) 31.883826, 35.444813 Synagogue nave
Current repository: Unknown
Text type: dedicatory inscriptions
Summary:
Mosaic inscriptions of Beniamin the parnas and general dedication to the synagogue from Naaran (Na'aran; Noara; 'Ein Duk). 401 CE - 600 CE.
Changes history: 2022-11-02 Tomasz Barański Creation; 2024-03-28 Martyna Swierk Last modification; 2023-12-12 Martyna Swierk Preparation of EpiDoc file
Publication details: University of Warsaw; Warsaw;
Available under licence CC-BY 4.0
; @2021Translation
Remembered for the good be Beniamin the parnas, son of Yose. Remembered for the good be everyone who supports and donates or will donate [or: has donated] in this holy place, whether gold or silver or anything else (of value), Amen. Their share is in this holy place, Amen
Commentary
(after CIIP IV 2734) Some letters were erased when the figure of Daniel was destroyed by iconoclasts. The title parnas indicates an administrator, mid- or even high-level within a community, whose ad hoc functions varied from place to place; it had no fixed meaning or function. The terms ὁ προνοητής and ὁ προνούμενος in the synagogue pavement in Ḥammat Tiberias are probable parallels to parnas. Anonymity is a relatively rare phenomenon in euergetistic inscriptions but many of them were found in the Jewish context in Iudaea/Palaestina (in addition to the present inscription in Naʿaran): Ḥamat Gader, Beth She’an, Jericho, Khirbet Susiya, Ḥuseifa, Beth Alfa, Maon, Beth Sheʾan. These are all Aramaic, except for the last mentioned one which is Greek . Anonymous benefaction seems to indicate a special euergetistic ethic or piety, rather than “community ownership of the synagogue”.
Bibliography (edition)
- CIIP IV W., Ameling, H., Cotton, W., Eck, A., Ecker, B., Isaac, A., Kushnir-Stein, H., Misgav, J., Price, P., Weiß, A., Yardeni, 2023, Corpus inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae. Volume IV: Iudaea/Idumaea, Berlin, Boston, 2734.
Bibliography
- K., Beyer, 1984, Die aramäischen Texte vom Toten Meer: samt den Inschriften aus Palästina, dem Testament Levis aus der Kairoer Genisa, der Fastenrolle und den alten Talmudischen Zitaten, Gottingen, 392. J., Naveh, 1978, On Stone and Mosaic: The Aramaic and Hebrew Inscriptions from Ancient Synagogues, Tel Aviv, 97-100 63.